Anglican Morning Devotion, 1 April 2022 Anno Domini
a ministry of the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 27Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:26-27; all scripture quoted is from the King James Version)
The Holy Ghost is a particular possession of the devout believer and a Person whom the world cannot know. The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father AND the Son. It is God in nature and being yet a separate Person of the two. It is the generative nature of the Godhead that moves to reveal the power and will of God to His chosen elect. The Holy Ghost comes to the believer as a revealer and confirmer of truth in Christ. His role includes the deeper meaning of Holy Scripture which the world cannot know or understand. He points always to Jesus Christ and reveals Him in the Word of which the Bible scholar is the diligent student. The Holy Spirit does not come to us as Lord and Savior, but to point to Him who bled and died for our sins – Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will never speak of Himself, but of Christ only in His revealed Word.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 19Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 21He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:15-21)
Love is a product of the will and spirit, and Holy Love is generated by the Holy Ghost. It is only by means of the agency of love by which we are enabled to obey the Commandments of God. The Holy Spirit enables us to know Christ as revealed by His Word. The Holy Spirit will not give counsel outside, or in contradiction, to Holy Scripture.
The Holy Ghost was present at the beginning of Creation with the Father and the Son: “In the beginning God (Elohim – singular/plural) created the heaven and the earth. 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:1-2) The visitation of the Holy Ghost, like the pre-Incarnate Christ, had been active on earth long before the general coming of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. He moved in the hearts of the prophets of old to transmit the word of God to His scribes. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:21) Today, the Holy Ghost works in the hearts of all believers to point always to Christ and all that is presented in Holy Scripture about Him.
God is not the author of confusion. “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” (1 Corinthians 14:33) The tongues mentioned in the Bible are languages unknown to some, but known to the speaker or those of his native land. The only example in Scripture of a general confusion of tongues occurs as a result of sin at the Tower of Babel. When we say that God is not the Author of Confusion, that includes God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. God does not work in dark and mysterious ways in His Word nor in His actions of transmission. If a fellow stands in the church and babbles some indescribable proclamation, how can the believe say amen to that which is obscure and confusing? How is the knowledge and wisdom of the Word enhanced by such babbling? If any speaks words or language, either understandable or not, that is extra-biblical, how can such pronouncements be confirmed by the hearer? We are not left to scramble about in the dark as to what God has said. He has given us His clear Word, and the Holy Ghost to aid us in its understanding.
The Holy Ghost brings peace and understanding, not confusion. The Holy Ghost is a Spirit whose presence can be at all places and at all times. He is with us to comfort us in the knowledge that God is near and knows our ways in this wilderness world. To hear the counsel of the Holy Ghost, we must be still and listen. In our prayers, we must realize that we do not merely voice a laundry-list of wants or desires, but we must listen patiently for the response of God to our petitions. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10)
(These are elementary devotions. The reader is encouraged to study these matters more deeply in Scripture.)
